


Robot Heart

by Umikarakey



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cyborg/robot, Learning Human Emotions, Light Angst, M/M, Miu and Keebo are bffs, Nail art, Shy and awkward K1-B0, amamiibo, amiibo?, avocado falls for a robot, keebo likes cats, miu the matchmaker, robophobic schools, robot falls for an avocado, self-conscious K1-B0, tsumugi doesn't like rantaro lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26618332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umikarakey/pseuds/Umikarakey
Summary: Nearly dying from a tragic accident, Keebo was revived by Professor Idabashi and Miu Iruma, but as a cyborg/robot. Somewhat succeeding, Miu helped him adjust to human life and taught him human emotions. K1-B0 learned how to live and feel like humans, but a particular avocado made him feel a little differently than everyone else did. A rather strange feeling. It is now Miu's personal mission to help him become one with the celery man.Alternatively, robot falls for avocado.
Relationships: Amami Rantaro/K1-B0
Comments: 14
Kudos: 45





	1. Nail Art

Keebo was a quiet and timid boy, often making conversation only when he absolutely had to, so he only had a handful of friends, if they could really be considered his friends. But one thing’s for sure, Miu was his best friend. Miu, on the other hand, was never one to make friends, not that she didn’t want to but rather, she couldn’t. She was raised by neglectful parents who didn’t particularly care about her and paid more attention to their career, friends, and each other than their daughter. Which was why her sole source of refuge was the pale, white haired Keebo she met in kindergarten. He was really nice to her and always cared about her, even if she didn’t act up, he would pay attention to her because in his eyes, she was more genuine than the other kids. She became so attached to him that he ended up becoming something of a life support to her.

They did just about everything together, and it helped that they were both interested in creating and building things, which was their source of comfort. Of course, Miu was much more adept but Keebo was a great help. They would often talk about all the different things they could create together.

Even until middle school, they were best friends and were always glued together.

One day, Miu and Keebo were just having lunch together in class when a tall, green haired boy with long luscious eyelashes walked into the classroom and stood by the teacher’s desk. With him were two girls, a blue haired bespectacled girl (who looked like she didn’t want to be with him), and a bubbly blonde with a wide, friendly grin.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he said with such a deep gentle voice. Keebo looked up while Miu continued to eat without a care. “We’re from class 2-B. I’m Rantaro Amami,” he said with a curt bow.

“My name is Kaede Akamatsu! And this is Tsumugi Shirogane,” the blonde started cheerfully. “We’re doing a fun one-day service, just for fun, soo…. everyone is welcome to come to our class tomorrow if you want cheap, quality nail art, like this!” she flashed her really nicely painted nails to the class, and the students began to chatter among themselves, some of the girls seemed to be interested.

“Ugh, what a load of bullshit. Why would you even pay hard earned money to get your nails painted, anyway?” Miu rolled her eyes, but clearly she was also interested. She waited for Keebo to respond, but he remained silent. She turned to him and saw that he was staring—rather intensely—at the avocado man, Rantaro Amami. Grinning, she kicked his leg.

“Ow! What’s wrong with you?” Keebo finally looked at Miu.

“No, what’s wrong with _you_? You want your nails done?”

“Ridiculous, of course not.”

“Then…you got hots for Amami?” she teased, wiggling her eyebrows as she scooted closer to him, face merely inches away from each other.

“Wh—no! What’re you talking about? Absolutely not.”

“Pfft, sure you don’t. Look at you sweatin’. _Sweatin’!_ ”

“Ghh—sh-shut up, Miu!”

Miu just laughed loudly, and Keebo looked away, irritated, yet he glanced at Rantaro again from the corners of his eyes. Then he saw Rantaro look back at him and they made eye contact. Keebo felt his stomach lurch and couldn’t help but look away awkwardly. Stupid Keebo, he thought. Rantaro smiled to himself, what a cute guy.

“Amami-kun, why are you smiling?” Tsumugi whispered, a little annoyed. He just kept on smiling as he said, “oh, it’s nothing.”

“Alright, we hope to see you guys tomorrow!” Kaede said, clapping her hands together as the three bowed and left. Miu saw Rantaro sneak a peek at an embarrassed Keebo as he walked out the door.

“Yo, I think he likes you, too,” Miu elbowed Keebo excitedly. “No, I’m _positive_ he likes you too!”

“…don’t get my hopes up,” was all Keebo said as he picked up his chopsticks and shoved rice into his mouth. Miu sighed loudly, what was she supposed to do with her poor, hopeless friend? She will definitely matchmake them. As soon as possible!

Thus, in her attempt to make them meet, Miu dragged Keebo the next day to class 2-B during lunchtime to get nail art. He was heavily against it, he had no desire to have his nails painted, but was now being forced to sit at a desk with nail polish and other things that he wasn’t familiar with, being the first customer of the day. Why wasn’t _Miu_ the one sitting down and getting _her_ nails done instead? Well, she 'wanted to see if it was good enough to be on these gorgeous nails first,' so Keebo ended up being her lab rat.

“Welcome! Please wait a minute, our artist is still getting ready,” Kaede said. One can only assume who this ‘artist’ was, and Keebo’s guess was absolutely Shirogane. Who else could it be—

“Oh, hello.”

Keebo felt his heart drop as he heard a deep growl ringing in his ears. He blinked several times as he saw the shadow of someone sitting across from him. That someone had such a nice scent, he felt like he could just drown in it. He already knew who it was and while deep inside he was really happy, he couldn’t muster the courage to raise his head. His heart was pounding uncontrollably. If he survived this, the first thing he was going to do was yell at Miu. For sure.

“I didn’t expect to get male students today,” Rantaro smiled. “Ah, not that it’s a bad thing, of course.”

“Um…y-yeah? Heheh,” Keebo shifted nervously in his seat, actively avoiding eye contact.

“Idabashi-kun, don’t be shy. Boys can totally paint their nails, nothing wrong with it. Look, I have my nails done, too,” Rantaro raised his hands in front of Keebo’s face to show his black nails. “Pretty nice, isn’t it?” Keebo slowly looked up and saw his pretty, short nails with smooth nail polish painted over them. They really did look nice, if anything it suited his…aesthetic. But what caught Keebo off guard more than the fact that Rantaro paints his own nails was that he knew his name. But…how? Keebo was nowhere near being well-known in school, spending most of his days with just Miu.

“Amami-kun…how did you know my name?”

“Hm? Oh, ah... Akamatsu-san told me,” he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. Kaede definitely didn’t tell him that, but Miu hurriedly motioned for her to ‘zip it’ and so she just smiled and nodded when Keebo looked up at her. Miu was just chilling, sitting in a chair right behind Keebo, enjoying the show.

“I-I see…”

Rantaro waited for a while in case Keebo wanted to say anything else, and when he didn’t, he pulled out a small album and placed it across the desk. “Here’s a few examples of nail art designs you can choose from, if you have any preferences,” he explained, locking eyes with Keebo. Unable to think of anything else when he saw those beautiful long eyelashes, Keebo stared silently. Rantaro continued, “but if you want other designs, I could probably do those, too.” Keebo had to gather all his willpower to force himself to break eye contact, not wanting to look away from such pretty eyes, just to flip open the album to expose some really intricate nail art with various floral designs, patterns, even some cute cartoon characters that seemed more suited for children.

“You can do all this?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s so cool…”

“Ah, it’s really nothing.”

“No, I'm serious. It’s amazing. But um, I don’t think any of these really suit me, to be honest.”

“Hm? Why not?”

“I don’t know, they kind of look a bit…complex? I feel like it wouldn’t suit me. Something like that.”

“Really? I think any of these would look good on anyone, honestly. But if you don’t want anything complicated, you could always just go for a solid colour, like mine.”

Keebo sneaked a look at those long, pretty fingers again. A solid black doesn’t sound like a bad idea at all…

“Then…can you do it?”

“Do what?”

“L-like yours,” Keebo blushed, closing his eyes as he spat his words out.

“Ah,” Rantaro stifled a laugh. Idabashi-kun really is cute. “Of course. Here, give me your hands,” he reached out and gently took Keebo’s hands and observed those stubby little fingernails. They were so adorable. He grabbed black nail polish from the collection of various nail products on the desk and started painting Keebo’s nails. The latter felt his heart thump louder and louder as time passed, Amami-kun was really holding his hand. Really. It was a firm grasp, but it also felt quite gentle. Keebo wanted to spontaneously combust.

“ _Sweatin’_ ,” Miu whispered into his ear, low enough so only he could hear it.

“Shut up,” was what he wanted to say, but there was no way he could say it without Rantaro noticing, so he kept it to himself. At that, Miu began to laugh by herself, grabbing attention and a few strange looks from the other students in the classroom. A few minutes passed and his nails were finally done. Rantaro told him to let it dry for a while.

“Idabashi-kun,” he said, resting his chin in his palm. “Do you like cats?”

“Huh? Yeah, I like cats. Why?”

“I wonder…” the green haired boy muttered, more to himself than to Keebo, but the shorter boy chose to ignore it. “They should be dry enough, I think.”

“Really? Then I must thank you for your service—”

“Hold on,” Rantaro quickly grabbed his hands again, making Keebo’s stomach clench. “There’s something I want to do, if it’s okay…?”

“S-something you want to do?” a million thoughts came to mind, and it definitely didn’t help that he could hear Miu snickering and screeching behind him.

“If you don’t like it, I’ll erase it immediately,” he said as he grabbed white nail polish and started to paint a small cat head at the end of Keebo’s pinkie. It was carefully done and also really cute. He’d definitely hate it if Rantaro erased _that_. “So…what do you think?” Rantaro was actually a little nervous.

“It’s so cute, Amami-kun… Don’t erase it, please.”

“Phew, I’m so glad you like it!” he grinned, relieved.

After that, it was Miu’s turn, who wanted clear nail polish with white flower patterns which, while simple, looked really beautiful. When they left the classroom and throughout the day, Keebo couldn’t stop looking at his nails because they looked so good. Yep, that was the reason, it’s not because it was done by Amami-kun of all people, of course not. But whatever the true reason was, he never got rid of the nail art.


	2. Transition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something terrible happened to Miu and Keebo. And Keebo wouldn't wake up. Will things ever return to normal?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of an angsty chapter, and more focused toward Miu this time.

Miu and Keebo were excited to go hiking for the first time—the two barely leave their homes, as they prefer to stay indoors than go out being around a lot of people. All packed up and ready to go, they boarded the bus heading to Karuizawa. Throughout the journey, they talked about what kinds of things they expected to see, other attractions they would like to visit. It was a fun ride and Keebo enjoyed himself as he talked to Miu and looking out the window, taking in the scenery.

But truly, misfortune comes uninvited. One second they were chatting the hours away, and the next, they were tumbling down the mountain. The world was spinning. It was a strange feeling, really, as if they were floating, but not really. Everything was moving so fast, and the last thing Miu remembered before losing consciousness was a really strong, heavy impact to the side of the bus. Then everything went black.

The next thing she saw was blinding white light, accompanied by slow beeping. Taking her time to adjust to the bright light, Miu slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a hospital, and beside her was…her mom? What happened?

“Miu!” her mom exclaimed when she noticed that Miu was awake. Then she proceeded to express her relief and called a doctor to check her. But Miu couldn’t catch up with everything that was going way too fast. What happened to her? Why did her body ache all over? Why could she barely stand, let alone sit up? Her head began to spin as the doctor discussed with her mom about her condition. After the doctor left, she finally managed to ask why she was hospitalized.

Apparently, the bus she and Keebo were on that day slipped and rolled off the mountain, then crashed into a tree. 12 people died on the spot and the rest were severely injured. Miu herself was in a coma for over 6 months. Surprisingly, her mom remained by her side the whole time, actually taking the time to talk to her and spend time with her, making sure she was okay. For the first time in probably her whole life, Miu finally felt ‘parental love and attention’. She was really happy and deep in her heart, she was sort of thankful for the accident because otherwise neither of her parents would even look her way. For a few months, she had to go through intensive physical therapy so that she could walk without assistance again, and after those painful months were over, she was finally discharged. Before leaving the hospital, she had to find out where Keebo was. It turned out that he still hasn’t regained consciousness yet and was in the Intensive Care Unit, depending on life support to keep him alive. When Miu saw him, she almost cried. It was all her fault. She was the one who asked him to go to Karuizawa with her. If she hadn’t, he wouldn’t have been in this situation.

“Keebo….I…I’m so sorry…”

Her guilt grew every second that Keebo didn’t wake up. She visited him every single day and begged him to wake up, apologizing over and over again. “Please wake up, I’m so sorry, this is all my fault.”

Months went by and he was still comatose. While Miu visited Keebo, she also met his father, Professor Idabashi. Sometimes he talked to her, but she just couldn’t get herself to look him in the eye. His son was like this because of her. No amount of sorry could ever possibly be enough to make up for what she has done.

Almost a year passed and still no improvements. Even the specialists checked Keebo and they all said there was no hope for him. There was no way for them to help him because without life support, he wouldn’t be able to survive. So that meant, either they let him go, or keep him this way for…forever…?

Miu felt hopeless, if she lost Keebo, she would have lost her best friend. Her everything. But keeping him that way, it was just suffering for him. That’s no way to live, was it?  
But as she succumbed to despair, Professor Idabashi approached her and asked her to assist him in something. His latest project, if you will. Professor Idabashi was a robotics engineer, creating robotic innovation. He spent the past months researching the human body and how he could replace the anatomy with machinery. He wanted to revive his son and if medicine couldn’t do that, then all he could do left was apply his knowledge. Turn Keebo into a robot. It sounded terrible, but he had nothing to lose—Keebo was his beloved son, the one and only.

Miu started assisting him and with her incredible skills in robotics among many others, they were able to finish in a little less than a year. Throughout that year, Miu attended high school on her own, and she was even able to become friends with Kaede and her friend Shuichi Saihara, whom Miu was rather interested in. Because of that, Miu wasn’t as lonely without Keebo.

But the whole time, she would do her best to avoid Rantaro. Not that she didn’t like him, but he reminded her so much of Keebo and she didn’t want that. She ruined a potential relationship, they could have been lovers or something! Sometimes, Rantaro would come up to her and ask her where Keebo was and if he was doing okay, but she would just say a bunch of senseless things and make excuses. She felt really uncomfortable. It didn’t help that she kept noticing the little cat head Rantaro painted onto his own fingernail. He must miss Keebo a lot. Hopefully, the robot project would be able to revive Keebo and he could live a normal life again, meet Rantaro and fall for him again.

And so, once the project was finished with Keebo fully charged and ready to go, the Professor flipped the switch and bright cerulean eyes began to glow. Did it work?

The robot Keebo sat up on his own and looked around in confusion. It worked, right? He’s alive? Miu ran over to him and hugged him without thinking. Keebo’s back. He’s finally back!

“Keebo, I’m so glad it worked. How do you feel?” she was so eager to hear his voice again, oh how she missed having conversations with him. But he just stared back at her with no reaction. Then he looked around the room again. “What’s wrong?” Miu felt a little distressed.

“Hm…” the professor thought for a while. “…I don’t think he’s Keebo anymore,” Professor Idabashi hesitated.

“W-what do you mean?”

“Maybe his memory is gone because of the brain damage he suffered. I…guess from now on, we’ll have to…live with the fact that Keebo is no longer…our Keebo.”

It was unbelievable, but with the amount of damage Keebo received due to the impact of the bus crash, it was even a wonder he was still alive—with life support, yes, but still alive—following the accident. He was not the same Keebo they learned to love, it’s like meeting a whole new person. And it is a whole new person. The robot, though based off a human, was still a robot after all. He needed to learn expressions and experiences to become more humanlike. He needed guidance. Suddenly, it felt like all their effort has gone to waste. What was the point of working day and night if this robot isn’t even his son and he doesn’t even remember his dad? In the end, it just seemed like…he adopted a robot. For a son. Professor Idabashi sighed in disappointment, but he noticed how Miu was still trying to talk to Keebo.

It didn’t matter to her. As long as this is what’s left of Keebo, Miu was thankful enough. She hugged him again and started crying. She promised she would be by his side forever.

“Keebo, I’m so glad you’re okay. Can…can you speak? Can you try saying Miu? Miu.”

“…” he stared with empty eyes at Miu, registering her facial features. It took quite some time, but he finally said, “…Miu.”

That alone brought tears to her eyes.

“Yes! That’s my name. Please, remember my name.”

“Understood. Storing in memory bank,” he said.

“And…um, that’s your father, Professor Idabashi!”

“Professor Idabashi. Father figure.”

It wasn’t going to be easy, but Miu and Professor Idabashi swore to make him become as human as possible and help him fit in with society. He’s not the same Keebo anymore, but regardless, to Miu, it’s more than enough to have him by her side. It was enough that her best friend was with her again.


	3. Reunion?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miu brings Keebo to school but he meets someone there. Also, he learns a new feeling. (¬‿¬)

Ever since Keebo's... ‘reincarnation’, Miu visited Professor Idabashi's lab almost every day to train Keebo so he could become a normal teenager—was what she told herself, but deep inside, she actually just wanted to be by his side. Keebo was doing pretty good, he read lots of books that help him better understand human behaviour, so explaining things to him was pretty easy. Keebo became well adjusted, you could barely tell that he was actually a robot—unless you looked closely, that is—and it helped that Miu would take the time to apply makeup on his face to make him look less robotic. Sometimes, she would bring him out into the neighbourhood and chatted as they strolled around town. Other times, she would bring him home with her without telling the professor, and studied or finished her homework while he sat next to her, then get an earful from the professor when she walked him back to the lab. It was always worth it. Either way, his presence alone was comfort to her. While the professor wanted Keebo to attend school like a regular teenager would, he wasn't able to convince any schools in the area to accept a robot as a student, not even after explaining the truth about Keebo’s origin. Such robophobia exists in this world, it seems. Therefore, he would personally homeschool Keebo to ensure he was up to date with the latest syllabus.

But of course, Keebo had his own curiosity, wanting to observe the school environment, and thus when he expressed his desire to Miu, she was more than willing to help him. So, she ‘accidentally’ left her bag in class and asked Keebo to accompany her back to school to retrieve it. The two walked to Miu's school together that afternoon, and after getting her bag back, she would drag Keebo around and tell him all sorts of things about school, including what the two used to do back when Keebo was a human. They would do this a couple times every week. Miu would purposely leave her belongings behind and then ask Keebo to come with her.

One day, she actually accidentally left one of her precious inventions in class and only realized when she got home. She wanted to get it back, so she asked Keebo to tag along again since it was almost night and she didn't want to go alone. So, they went. But Miu was stopped and interrogated by a teacher, so she motioned for Keebo to wait somewhere else while she was being questioned. Keebo decided to wait for her at the foyer where there were benches. As he was waiting, he noticed someone watching him from the hallway. It was a strange person with such oddly coloured hair. Was it possible for humans to have natural green hair? He observed closely as the person moved and approached him with caution, standing about a meter away.

“Hey,” he said with a bright smile. “Are you a student here?”

“No, I’m not. I’m with someone.”

“Ah, is it…Miu Iruma?”

“.…yes, how did you know?”

“…” he didn't answer, but instead looked at Keebo from head to toe, taking in every inch of him. “Are you a robot?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Wow,” he crossed his arms across his chest. “You look like someone I know.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but I haven't seen him in almost two years. You really do look like him, though.”

“Who is this that you are referring to?”

The green haired man came closer and sat next to him. “I wonder if you know him? You seem awfully close to Iruma-san and you look exactly like him. His name is Keebo.”

“Keebo?”

“Yep.”

“I am also Keebo. Although my name is actually K1-B0, I am addressed as Keebo. But… I have no memory of you.”

“You’re Keebo, too, huh?”

“What’s your name, if I may ask?”

“Oh, how rude of me. I'm sorry, my name is Rantaro Amami.”

As they were talking, Keebo had a strange feeling develop inside him. He had never felt this way before, so what could it possibly mean? This feeling grew more intense as he looked directly into Rantaro's pretty green eyes.

“Amami-kun, may I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“As I am still learning human emotions, there are certain circumstances that I have yet to experience and thus I do not comprehend the feelings that arise from those circumstances. Such as right now, I have a strange feeling as I look at you, yet I've never felt the same way when looking at Miu, or anyone else for that matter. I wonder what this feeling is, do you think you could clear it up for me?”

Rantaro stared at him in surprise and laughed. “Keebo, do you like me?”

“Like you? I don't know, I haven't established what I feel about you yet. We just met, after all.”

“Okay, okay. Well, that's the most possible thing, I guess, cause I feel that way around the person I like.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. It's normal. You're a humanlike robot, aren't you? Then don't worry about those feelings. It'll go away. Or not.”

“What should I do, then? Is there something I can do to further understand this feeling?”

“I dunno, it's really complicated. I used to like someone too, and I couldn't stop thinking about them. So I made this,” he showed Keebo his pinkie that had a cat head painted on it. “I did the same on their fingernail.”

While he was aware that he was talking to a robot that he'd just met and that the things he was talking about started to become really personal, he couldn't help himself. Something about Keebo was really luring him in, he just wanted to talk about anything and everything with him.

“It's really cute,” Keebo said, smiling. “This is a ‘manicure’ right? I would like to experience that one day, although I have no fingernails.”

The two kept talking on and on about whatever that comes to mind, somehow enjoying each others' presence, and hours went by until night came. Only when Rantaro finally checked his phone did he realize how late it was.

“Oh no, I thought we just talked for a few minutes. Time really does fly by, huh,” he laughed and got up. “I have to go now. But I'm glad I met you, I had a good time. I'd love to talk to you again sometime.”

“Um…I feel the same way.”

“Well, gotta go. See you later,” he waved as he left. Keebo waved back and watched him go until he couldn't see him anymore and the strange feeling was gone, then decided to look for Miu, who was just in the hallway near the foyer. She was tinkering with a machine in her lap. When Keebo approached her, she looked up and grinned widely.

“Took you long enough.”


	4. I Want To See Him Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keebo really misses Rantaro, so he asked the most reliable person he knows: Miu.

A few days passed since Keebo met Rantaro Amami and he still couldn’t stop replaying their encounter in his head. For some reason, a strange feeling of longing started to take over him. All he wanted was to hear his voice again, to see his face again. He thought back to what Rantaro told him about “liking someone” and decided to understand romance by reading self-help books as well as studying romantic comedy movies.

A few days of productivity went by and he began to understand more clearly why he felt such desire, but how it was possible to want to see someone so badly like this, Keebo didn’t know, all he knew was that he really couldn’t take it anymore. It’s been what, a week? Yet he still can’t stop thinking of Rantaro. He wanted to…hold his hand. So, like most of his other problems and questions, he brought this to Miu’s attention.

“Miu, do you know someone named Rantaro Amami—” to which Miu nearly snorted coffee out her nose, “I want to meet him.”

“R-Rantaro Amami, huh?”

“Yes, these past few days, I haven’t been able to think of anything else but him, it’s really messing with me. So I thought maybe if I met him once more, I could finally think straight again. If you know him, can you please help me?”

“I see, you wanna _bang_ him?” she snickered. Keebo tilted his head, confused.

“Bang? What do you mean by that?”

“…nevermind. Anyway, moving fast aren’t we?” she slung an arm around his neck, “Don’t worry, big boy, I’ll absolutely arrange for you two to meet again!”

“Really? Thank you so much, Miu.”

But what he didn’t know was she literally meant to arrange a full on date for them. Miu dedicated her whole evening to stalk Rantaro so she could get his address. Luckily she wasn’t caught, and now that she knew where he lived, she was able to write a vague, anonymous letter saying _“Dear Rantaro Amami, be at the park by 7. TQ.”_ Which, let’s be honest, nobody would go to the park after reading that. As she was sneakily trying to insert the note into the Amami household mailbox, someone suddenly yelled “MIU!” and she dropped the letter in fear. Turning around, she saw Kaede and Shuichi, both looked rather upset and confused at her.

“Oh it’s you guys. What the hell do you want? Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“What’re you doing? Are you trying to threaten him or something?” Kaede asked.

“The hell you mean?”

“Well, you’ve been following Amami-kun since yesterday, so it seems rather suspicious.” Shuichi murmured.

“No, you fucking idiot, I was just delivering a message,” she picked up the letter and waved it in front of their faces. Kaede grabbed it and asked what it was. “Mind your own business!”

“If it’s blackmail or something, I _will_ stop you,” Kaede raised her voice a little.

“Eek, I-I was just trying to get him to…come to the park….to meet Keebo.”

Kaede opened the letter and read the somewhat ominous message. She and Shuichi both sighed at how terrible her plan was. “Miu, you can’t just write something like this and expect someone to do what you say. It’s like, super creepy.”

And so, Kaede and Shuichi got involved in planning Keebo and Rantaro’s meeting. They decided on a better plan: Kaede and Shuichi were going to invite Rantaro to the park to ‘hang out’ and Miu can just bring Keebo there. Miu was shooed away—along with her sketchy letter—so Saimatsu could go talk to Rantaro.

That night, Miu dragged Keebo to the park and told him to go talk to Rantaro, who was already waiting (for Kaede and Shuichi) on one of the benches. She hurriedly ran to hide behind a bush where she found Saimatsu hiding as well and watched, as romcoms do. Keebo casually walked up to Rantaro.

“Amami-kun,” he said. “Miu told me I could meet you here” which was something he wasn’t supposed to say. Miu gasped audibly behind the obnoxiously large bush.

“Miu? I see…” Rantaro made a scary face as he thought about how he was set up. “Maybe she’s planning something sinister?” he joked.

“Um…what do you mean? Is Miu not to be trusted?”

“Oh Keebo, you’re so interesting,” he raised an eyebrow. Obviously, he was upset that Kaede and Shuichi lied to him, but he couldn’t really complain because he was happy to see Keebo again. “So, you wanted to see me?”

“Yes. I don’t quite understand, but I’ve been wanting to see you again for a long time now. I think I can probably associate these feelings to…love?”

“…love? You think so?” Rantaro was amused hearing this. Could this robot have fallen in love with him after meeting him _once_?

“Yes, probably. But I can’t be too sure, although I’ve done plenty research via romantic comedy movies.”

“Romcom?” Rantaro giggled. “Keebo, you can’t really take those movies seriously. After all, it’s just fiction. The real deal is always different.”

“Then, I want to learn more about it. Please allow me to _‘tie you up and drip hot wax across your body’_ —” both Kaede and Shuichi instinctively looked, grossed, at Miu who was totally engrossed in the conversation. Rantaro snorted.

“Tie me up? Shouldn’t we go a little slower?” seriously, what kind of movie did he watch?

“Am I going too fast? Miu told me I must ‘say this to the person I love’.”

Miu. Of course. Also, why was he blowing her cover? Was what Miu thought.

“Yeah, way too fast. Listen, why don’t we just…hold hands? That should be enough, right?”

“H-hold hands? Yes please!” Keebo reacted a little too enthusiastically. He’d been fantasizing this for a few days now. Rantaro smiled warmly as he reached out and held Keebo’s hand firmly. It was cold but had a sort of…interesting texture. It wasn’t a bad feeling, though.

“So, Keebo, tell me about yourself.”

Keebo happily told him all about his creation and Professor Idabashi’s hard work as well as Miu’s help. He told him a lot about his features, his AI and how he was made to be as human as possible. He was really proud of himself, even though other people might not be very accepting to the thought of a very human robot in their midst, what with the fear of robots taking over the world and whatnot. But not Rantaro, he was open to accepting Keebo, he actually enjoyed hearing Keebo talk and the more he spent time with him, the more he seemed to resemble the human Keebo he knew from years ago. What is the truth of this Keebo? he wondered. There was a certain blonde he needed to have a talk with. They sat there together for hours and Rantaro didn’t even want to leave, but he had to, lest his parents would get worried. So, when he decided it was time enough, Rantaro told Keebo that he had to go back home.

“Keebo, do you have a phone?”

“No, I don’t, why?”

“Well, if you do get a phone, here’s my email,” he scribbled on a faded receipt he found in his pocket with a pen that he had with him for some reason, and handed it to Keebo. 

“Call me or email me anytime, as long as it’s you I don’t mind,” he grinned as he got up. “I gotta go now. Hope we can meet again soon.”

Keebo clutched the piece of paper in his hands, smiling like an idiot, as he watched the green man leave. ‘I can’t believe it went really well,’ he thought to himself. ‘I must ask the professor to provide me with a phone.’

The three stalkers behind the bush were really pleased that the ‘date’ went smoothly. Miu popped out of the bush and ran to Keebo, congratulating him as she walked him home. She really was a gorgeous genius. When he got back, Keebo immediately asked if the professor could give him a phone.

He got one a few days later to which he used to frequently email Rantaro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do Japanese still use emails to text? I'm not sure. Please enlighten me, I'd like to know. Also, referring to Kaede and Shuichi as Saimatsu :3


	5. Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rantaro confronts Miu and things get cleared up.

As he went home that night, Rantaro couldn’t stop thinking of his meeting with Keebo. Haunted by memories of last night, Rantaro went to Miu’s class the next day to ask her a few questions. He already knew how she kept trying to avoid any talk about Keebo, but since she was part of the reason he was able to see Keebo last night, he made up his mind to talk to her. He went to her desk and since it was by the wall, he was able to easily corner her.

“Okay, Iruma-san, please be honest with me.”

“W-what do you want?”

“I met this K1-B0 yesterday, and I’ve seen you with him a couple times. So tell me, why does he resemble Keebo so much? Are they actually the same person? And, if so, why is he a robot?”

While she didn’t want to answer, being bombarded with questions like that made Miu feel really intimidated, so she had no choice but to clear it up. She explained everything from the bus accident up to her and Professor Idabashi ‘reincarnating’ Keebo in robot form. But because Keebo basically died, he had no memory of his ‘past life’. This whole time, she didn’t want to tell him because she didn’t know how he would feel after knowing all that. It was heavy news, after all, and she really couldn’t tell from Rantaro’s expression because the whole time, he was just smiling calmly. After she was done explaining, he bowed and thanked her, then he left. Miu was ultra nervous.

Rantaro went back to his class and texted Keebo and they agreed to meet up at the park later that day after school.

“Keebo,” he said in more of a sigh than anything as he hugged the robot. “I can’t believe it, it’s actually you. You’re a robot now.”

“Yes, I am Keebo and I am in fact a robot. Is something the matter?”

“Remember I told you about the Keebo I knew from before? I asked Iruma-san and she told me that it’s you. You’re the same Keebo. I just couldn’t piece it together because I thought…there was no way. But I’m so glad…you’re okay.”

“Oh…then, Amami-kun, were we close?”

Rantaro looked into his bright glowing eyes, “no, but I wish we were. It was my fault, I should’ve asked you out then. It was foolish of me to think nothing would happen. I’m so sorry.”

“I see. Amami-kun, I have no memory of my time as human, so I really cannot remember our relationship. Therefore...I truly appreciate it if you told me every interaction we had.”

Rantaro was basically crying on the inside. They sat down and Rantaro told him all the times he sneaked glances at him, the time Keebo tried nail art for the first time and every time Rantaro saw him, he would peek at his hands to make sure the nail polish was still there. He told him everything even though there wasn’t much to say because he regretfully didn’t make a move. Then when Keebo went missing and he learned that Miu was involved in a serious accident, he was so worried that he felt sick to the point that he could throw up. To cope with it, he painted a similar design on his own fingernail and told himself that Keebo was okay and that he’d be back soon.

Keebo listened and made sure to register all that information, memorizing everything about their past relationship. Apparently, in the past, he also liked Rantaro. He took Rantaro’s hand in his and gave him a smile.

“Amami-kun, our past, it must have been a burden to you. I’m really sorry that I cannot recall a single thing, but you know, Amami-kun, I’d love nothing more than to become close with you. If we couldn’t be close in the past, then...can we try in the present?”

Amazed at his words, Rantaro nearly teared up.

“Keebo… will you go out with me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> K: Um...go out where?  
> R: ...I mean, will you be my boyfriend, Keebo?  
> K: oh...OH! Yes, I will!


	6. Robot Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keebo and Rantaro go on a date and Keebo feels really self-conscious. Is it even ok that he was a robot?

It was 9 in the morning and Miu was already at the lab, helping Keebo choose what to wear. She gave him a lot of…strange suggestions. In the end, he settled for just a nice hoodie and some slacks. He was excited to go on a date for the first time in his life, a real date, but he was also anxious that he might mess up. They decided to meet at the park again and go from there.

When they got together, the two went to a nearby café. Only when they sat down and were ordering did Rantaro find out Keebo could neither eat nor drink.

“I’m so sorry, Keebo. We can go somewhere else, if you want.”

“No, it’s fine. We’re already here, so you should have something.”

When Rantaro got his order, Keebo watched as he drank and wished he could drink water and eat food. Everything looked really good and he wanted so much to know how they tasted. ‘This is no good, I can’t even share the experience with Amami-kun. How can I be human enough like this?’ he thought sadly. Rantaro was actually drinking as fast as possible so they could leave quickly. He didn’t want Keebo to feel left out.

After the café, Rantaro took Keebo to a theatre, a staple dating spot, and asked if Keebo had anything in particular that he wanted to watch.

“I have no preferences, Amami-kun. I’m happy to watch anything because it’ll be really helpful for me to learn more about humans and try applying it in real life,” which, only after he said it did he realize how robotic he sounded. “Ah, that makes me sound so much like a robot,” he frowned.

“Don’t worry about it,” Rantaro chuckled and grasped his hand. “Let’s just watch this, okay?”

Rantaro bought tickets for a romantic comedy movie, remembering how Keebo mentioned before that he studied a lot of romcom movies and this would probably increase his library. As they watched, Keebo couldn’t stop thinking about how stupid he sounded earlier and how ridiculous he must’ve appeared to Rantaro.

After the movie, they walked by the beach to watch the sunset. As they sat on a large rock by the seaside, Rantaro watched the waves rippled and asked “Keebo, I’m just curious. Can you swim? Would water damage you?” he was being overly cautious, afraid that it might offend Keebo.

“No, I can go in the water, but because of my build, I’m too heavy to swim. I’ll just sink to the bottom.”

It wasn’t really offensive, but the question did make him really self-conscious. In the end, no matter what he did and how much he studied about human culture, he was just a robot. No matter what, he couldn’t be a real human. He was a robot. With a robot heart.

“Amami-kun…”

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that I can’t be human enough. I’m sorry you had to date a robot. I really can’t be human enough for you. I’m so sorry…”

Hearing this, Rantaro turned to fully face him, held both of his hands and looked him in the eye saying, “Keebo. None of that matters to me, because Keebo is Keebo, robot parts or not, I’m just happy to have Keebo. And there’s no one else I’d rather have than you, Keebo.”

Keebo stared at their hands for a long time, letting Rantaro’s words sink in, then smiling in newfound encouragement. Finally, he felt that he was enough for Rantaro. He felt assured that he was allowed to stand next to Rantaro. Then as his mind was busy thinking about his new confidence, he felt a pair of hands cup his cheeks and lips against his. Rantaro kissed him. He knew what happiness felt like, but this was a whole new level of joy. He felt out of this world. Kissing was nothing like holding hands, it was so much more  
intense. It was also a new experience for Rantaro as he had never kissed an actual robot before.

When they finally parted, Keebo asked if they could do that again, and they spend the rest of their date just kissing and completely missing the sunset.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End! Thank you so much for going on this journey with me, I really appreciate it (～￣▽￣)～  
> Also, amamiibo for life


End file.
